Deathly Shadows
by Lady Luv of the East
Summary: I didn't know when it started, the dream, the changes, the people. Now a shadow in the night everyone shall learn to fear the dark once more. Naruxharem o\ABANDONED/o


**Hey, glad everyone likes it so far and very glad people voted as well, those that messaged me there picks I forgot will still count and I added them to the poll. If I can finish this and the wave arc before the week is out well you won't be hearing from me at all the next week. **

_**Disclaimer:**_ I don't own it, what more do you want from me!

_A/N: My version for the layout of Konoha, there split up into sectors the lower the letter such as A B C D and E are the relatively high end places such as clan compounds and Hokage tower is in the middle of sector A, the merchants sector are H through L and N, Middle to poor Civilian sectors are P, and T through Z. Ninja sectors are spread out through the village AnBu HQ is sector E, the outer rim of it, Interrogation division sector F. Ninja living are G, Q, R, M, and O the Forest of death is its own sector which is S . So there you have it the Sector Layer. For your convenience Naruto lives in sector G._

Spicy Lime 63 had some nice CC for me and I sort of agreed with him/her and removed the totally useless AN's. Thanks Spicy Lime -thumbs up-

**On with the story.**

* * *

**Chapter ****1**

Naruto woke up from his bed in pain, clutching his stomach tightly.

"What the hell!" He shouted as the pain seared through his stomach and towards his legs, making him scream. The pain was so much that he was knocked out and pushed into his mind where he woke up in front of a black door. Naruto stood, aware of the fact that there was no more pain and walked towards the door; going to open it he realized there was no handle to open the door with. With a shrug he pushed as hard as he could and fell right through the door as it rippled like water. Upon the door appeared a skull, a _human _skull with a scythe in it's mouth before disappearing into darkness.

Naruto groaned as he sat up, taking in the new sights. Walls with peeling black paint and mirrors hung everywhere, the room was lit by one chandelier and that barely encompassed it all, leaving most of it in darkness. He hurried to the center where there was the most light. He stood frightened for the first time in years, the swaying light, the dripping water, and the footsteps that neither left nor approached. Suddenly there was laughter(A/N: almost like Hichigo from Bleach) around him, Naruto spun in the direction he heard it but the problem was, it was coming from everywhere.

"_Well look-e here, the king has finally come to visit me_." A voice said eerily similar to his own but slightly higher.

"Whose there!" Naruto yelled out into the darkness, his answer was the laughter from before,

"_You really don't know? I'm you_." The voice said stepping out of the darkness. Naruto subconsciously took a step back from the aspiration

"You-you're not me, you look nothing like me!" He yelled, the pasty white figure smiled showing a mouth full of blue teeth, his black outfit blending in with the dark with it's gray hair shadowed.

"_Of course I'm you, just the better half of you_." It replied grinning madly, it's statement angering Naruto,

"What the hell do you mean, 'better half'?" Naruto said angrily, 'it' laughed at him, mockingly, moving around the boy

"_I am your skills baka king, your other half; your smarter half. The old fool sealed part of your soul thinking he was doing what was best for you_,' it laughed again,' _what a joke. I'm all your rage, your desire, your blood lust, everything your not_." He ended with a mocking grin as Naruto shook in rage and when the boy was about to turn to yell at the other boy he froze. In front of him was a snout, a bone snout, one eerily similar to that of a fox. Naruto didn't even bother to move when he felt the cold breath of his other half on his ear

"_Ya like him? Thought he'd look good without all that fur and organs_." He said giggling as he moved away to stand beside the snout

"What-what is it exactly?" Naruto asked and practically jumped back when the snout growled,

"_Why king, isn't it obvious,' the bones began to move upward and Naruto followed them until he was practically flat on his back,'it's the Kyuubi no Kitsune."_ He said and the light swung on the bone structure revealing **9** tails moving on their own accord as the creature roared, shaking the mirrors.

"Im-impossible, the fourth Hokage killed him!" Naruto yelled

"_So naïve my king, a bijuu can't be killed by a mortal man. Now those of god decent well you know how that is_." He chuckled as the fox backed away from the pair and into the darkness.

Naruto just stood there shocked,

_'The Yondaime sealed the Kyuubi into me? Why? Why me?' _he thought

"_Don't look so down my king, all is not lost_." The fragment said causing Naruto to focus on him

"What's your name?"

"_Mmm, don't have one_." It replied

"Well ya gotta have a name." Naruto said and it moved closer to him

It was silent for awhile unitl it grinned,"_Hmmmm... Kurai Obakekage_( **dark, gloomy Ghost Shadow or Shadow Ghost) **_at your service_." Bowing as it said this the grin on its face became even wider.

Naruto woke up with a start, grasping for breath as the image of that _hollows_ grinning face burned into his frontal lobe. Sitting up with a groan, Naruto rubbed the gunk out of his eyes and slicked back his sweat soaked hair. Swinging his legs from the bed, he noticed his feet touched the ground sooner than usual. Thinking nothing of it the blond boy moved to resume his usual waking up routine. As he began his rituals Naruto didn't notice the pasty white face a grinning blue mouth and startling yellow eyes that seemed to dance with madness.

**Chapter ****2**

Naruto grumbled as we walked the streets of Konoha, first his clothes didn't fit him all of a sudden, then it seemed rats found their way into his stores of food leaving him _little_ presents in return for stealing all his precious ramen. Sighing to himself Naruto rubbed the back of his neck in hopes to relieve some of the tension he was feeling, unknowingly showing off part of his surprisingly toned abs catching the attention of some of the female citizens. Looking through his slightly baggy pants for gama-chan he came to a stop to check the amount of money he had before grumbling again at the small amount,

"Damn Kakashi-sensei, making us take a personal training leave for 2 months. How am I supposed to pay for rent AND food and clothes? Sometimes I think he forgets I live by myself." Pouting slightly the blond jinchuriki put his money away before looking back up.

Blinking in surprise, Naruto stared at the store he was stopped in front of. The windows were blackened, the wood was a sickening purple with a mixture of blackened bricks. The sign itself was black with golden lettering,

_**Hot Topic**_

Curiosity peeked, Naruto cautiously walked forward pushing the curtained doors open. Surprisingly inside was of mellow and occasionally neon bright colors, the background music of an unknown band singing, overall it wasn't that bad. **He would later find out the bands name to be H.I.M.** Perusing the merchandise, Naruto found himself gravitating towards the darker part of the store where the blacks and like black clothing was hanging. Pulling out a interesting sleeveless gray hoodie with a white skull taking up the entire back of it Naruto hmm'd and checked the tag of the item and paled slightly.

'I won't be able to buy a new wardrobe with these prices!' he thought in the motion of putting back the jacket only to pull back in surprise at the face sticking out of clothing rack and nearly yelled when it smiled at him.

"Hello valued customer, I see you were about to back that fine clothing item, only one like it you know. It would be a shame of you NOT to buy it." The head said enthusiastically. Naruto only looked at the head in a strange way before shaking his own,

"Sorry head-san- Head-san? Oh I'm not just a head,' a person stepped out of the small compact space leaving Naruto to wonder how a body of an adult could even fit in there,' Sorry 'bout that, names Mike but my friends call me Jack so feel free to call me so." The now revealed man said,

"Um... okay Jack-san. Anyway you see I can't get this because I won't have enough to get an entire new wardrobe as mine became to small for me this morning." Naruto said looking down at the cool jacket sadly, and he really wanted to get it too.

He was suddenly knocked out of his thoughts by Jack with a surprisingly strong slap to the back.

"Nonsense my new found friend, if your so worried about money I got a deal for you. In exchange for a set of clothes everyday, you work for me to pay them off?" The man said with a cheerful grin,

Naruto looked up at him with awe and thinly veiled distrust, "And why would you offer me a job, I'm obviously a ninja and I could be too busy to work for you?" The blond watched Jack nearly fall over in laughter with wide surprised eyes before getting angry,

"Hey! Are you laughing at me teme?" puffing up his cheeks in a childish fashion, Jack, whose laughter died down somewhat, was wiping at his eyes careful of the black lining surrounding them,

"Gomen gomen. Its just its obvious your a new genin on a personal leave of some sort and well you are in need of ninja clothes." Jack said now sitting on a stool behind the counter, Naruto blinked then blinked again

"Hey how'd ya get there so fast!" Naruto exclaimed pointing comically at him, Jack tilted his head and his smile turned indulgent like one would with a child,

"Magic." nothing more was said

Naruto quieted for a bit before catching up to what the man said previously, "Hey I thought this was a civilian store?" Confused, he looked around trying to spot ninja wear but finding none.

"It's both as it is easier for business and this is a ninja clothing store, we sell high grade fabric items as well as having them stylish yet comfortable. Though half the store is for the civilian populace." The man pointed out, "Anything even remotely pointy, dangerous or shiny can be bought at Higurashi Point in sector L"

Naruto pondered what the man said and nodded to himself before looking at Jack, taking in his black blond hair and tall, lanky build before grinning at him,

"You've got a deal. Names Naruto Uzumaki, you better remember it 'cuz I'm gonna be the next Hokage!"

Jack smirked and did a two finger salute,

"Welcome future Hokage, Michael Jackson Ryuuka at your service."

**Chapter ****3**

It was several hours later before Naruto exited Hot Topic but when he did very few recognized who the boy was, the striking blond hair had blackened tips and his eyes outlined in kohl(Think Gaara but not so heavily), imported from more of the eastern countries, making his eyes pop out more than usual. He was wearing the gray skull jacket a mesh sleeveless shirt underneath and black baggy pants stuffed into a pair of black silver tipped boots, his headband was around his neck with a black fabric instead of standard blue and his ninja pouches were tied to both legs along with a back pouch. Surprisingly all the pouches were a nice contrasting white.

Looking down at the slip of paper in his hand, Naruto scratched the back of his head at what Jack had said earlier,

_Naruto looked at the paper then back at Jack as the man finished fixing his hair,_

_"Naru-chan you need new equipment, yours are as crappy as poop thrown by a monkey- What?" Naruto said confused_

_"Sorry bad analogy, anyways the point is you are in dire need of new weapons. You can't be badass with rusty cast offs. Now I'm good friends the the owner at Higurashi's so just say ol' Jackie sent ya, you'll get a nice discount."_

Naruto once again looked at the paper with the directions to Higurashi's Point, it would take 5 minutes if he used the roofs and 30 if he walked there. Looking around to see the streets weren't that crowed decided to have walk. Stuffing the paper in his pants pocket, Naruto began his journey to obtain new weapons.

As he was walking Naruto noticed the few younger women that were shopping kept pointing at him and whispering to their friends before giggling. Confused **and ignorant** Naruto ignored the girls and continued to his destination as he was wandering around Sector L trying to find the weapons shop when he ran into someone but before he or she fell Naruto shot his hand out to grab them before they fell to the ground.

"Sorry bout that wasn't watching where I was going." Naruto laughed rubbing the back of his neck noting the person he saved was a kunoichi whose cheeks were pink. _Huh, wonder if she's sick or something?_

"Oh no that's alright, I wasn't paying attention, um were you looking for something you seem lost." The girl said.

"Oh no I was-" Naruto stopped himself as he looked over the girl in front of him, the Chinese styled shirt, blue khaki's and standard blue sandals. He took a deep breathe and noticed she smelled heavily of iron and smoke,

"Actually yeah, I'm looking for a Higurashi's Point. Could you show me where it is please?" He said as politely as he could afraid the girl may be of the more violent type like Sakura-chan. Brightening, the girls eyes took on a shiny quality to them.

"I work there! I was just on my way back from training, come on I'll show you!" The excitement of the girl was practically visible as she grabbed his arm tugging him in the opposite direction he was going._ Girls are so weird_ were his only thought as he was pulled.

"Um, the name's Naruto Uzumaki whats yours?" Naruto asked rather nervous from the awkward silence, he saw the girl blush again slightly worried if she had a fever or something.

"Oh my name is Tenten, your one of this years new genin team right? I graduated last year." Tenten said ignoring the blatant glaring from the young female populace, only Naruto really noticing but equated it to his 'furry friend' _But if the dream was real, the Kyuubi's not so furry anymore_ Naruto thought with a slight frown before pushing it aside for the pair had arrived at the weapons shop. The sign hanging from the wall of the building featuring a pair of kunai crossing with _Higurashi's_ above it and _Point_ below it it thick writing to be seen easily by passer by ninja.

Opening up the door with a familiar _Ching_ of a bell, Tenten dragged Naruto around the shop picking up all the essential shinobi tools, 2 packs of senbon, 3 spools of ninja wire at the girls insistence stating you can never have enough wire, on that note she grabbed some double threaded nylon rope. Naruto only paled at the growing pile on the counter as the weapons obsessed girl, **which he finally figured after the 15th pack of kunai** when he heard a voice from the back,

"Tenten is that you?"

The girl paused in her grabbing, which Naruto thanked as he thought he saw a very vicious looking scythe inches from her fingers,

"Yea, I'm just getting stuff for a customer!" She yelled back and Naruto heard several bangs before a flap lifted revealing a surprisingly slim but broad shouldered man, his had black hair which was sprinkled with gray and a black goatee. He wasn't tall but neither was he short, very average with average looks if it weren't for the slash over his eye. Upon seeing him Naruto worried he would get the negative reaction he would always get but was surprised when the man was surprised.

"I was wondering when you were gonna get here, that moron Jacks never told you where the actual shop was did he?" the man had a bit of mirth hidden in his tone.

Naruto could only nod as the guy began to ring up his purchases taking stuff out he really didn't need, like the katana that found itself in the pile but kept the shinai(bamboo samurai sword). Several scrolls were bought including a rather large one the width of his chest.

He began counting in his head the amount of money this would all cost and the amount he physically had. When the final item was rung up he dreaded the final price,

"Alright, your total comes to around 25,000 ryo."

Naruto gaped in surprise as his body procured the right amount leaving him enough to get ramen for the two months. The guy laughed at the boys face and wiped at the tears with his hand,

"Sorry your face was soo priceless. Jack asked for me to give ya a discount 'cuz were old friends. Oh almost forgot, the names Dylan Higurashi, its nice to meet you and hope to have your continued patronage."He ended with a smile as Tenten sealed everything in the scrolls which he put into his back pouch. Smiling at the pair he waved as he thanked them before exiting the building.

**Chapter ****4**

Naruto closed the door with a soft click the only sound was the rustling of the bag in his hand. Untying his boots Naruto made his way to the kitchen to stash his newly bought protein and ration bars. He put the fruit and vegetables into the fridge and the slab of meat the vendor gave him was wrapped up tightly in plastic wrap and placed on the middle shelf.

Of course he thought it odd he got nearly everything he bought half off nor did he think the reason was because of him and each vendor besides the butcher were female. What he didn't know was when he was perusing the meats that the other female vendors began to glare at the stout man making him tremble in a manner befitting of a boy.

When Naruto opened his mouth while pointing at the rear cut beef, the boy had no time to blink as the man wrapped up the 5000 ryo priced beef and practically shoved it into his arms with a hasty remark and shaky smile.

Bewildered but not unhappy about it took the meat and carried it like a treasure, and with good reason from his sparse taste of cuisine with the ramen from Tuechi's and cup, as well as the occasional fruit he 'bought' from the few grocers he's been 'politely removed' from.

With a nod to himself, the blond boy went off to go over the training manual Dylan was kind enough to add for free. Going over the stances or Katas, he looked out the window to see it was light still out,

"Plenty of time to get some training in."

Putting on his boots Naruto left the apartment, hopping from building to building before arriving at one of the many unused training grounds. Looking around he put his hands in a familiar hand sign and shouted

"**Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!**" A familiar poof and smoke surrounded Naruto who waited for it to disperse. When the cloud of white was gone Naruto got a surprise from what he saw, all the clones were different shapes, sizes, colors **eyes, hair and few skin, varied tans and paleness** and _gender_. He blinked once then again before all the clones knelt to one knee, the tallest of them all stepped forward and bowed to the blond before righting itself,

"What is your word Commander?" The clone was male with long black hair tied at the nape of his neck with deep green eyes and pale skin. Naruto eyed the clones, all the males wore fitting black ninja ware and some had a mask covering their mouths and nose, the females wore feminine versions of the guys outfits; some of the clones had a different set of clothing than their neighbors such as the one in front of him.

"Commander?" The 'man' asked, looking down worried at their leader, Naruto just shook himself out of his stupor before standing up straighter causing the man to kneel with the rest of the others,

"Our training begins now!" He said, not noticing nor caring how calmly he was taking this turn of events as he heard the hundreds of Hai's echoing around him, the only thought of it was how it was going to be a loooong night.

**Inside Naruto's mindscape**

Sitting on a throne sideways in the center of a gray-scale Konoha, Kurai laughed at the screen showing him the outside through Naruto's eye's, symbols began appearing on the buildings around the 'ghost' who continued his mad chuckle. Kyuubi merely shifted its body before becoming as still as a grave again.

_"The changes have finally begun, and the king doesn't even realize it!_' a skull appeared in his hand and Kurai looked at it with morbid amusement, _'The time is almost here, isn't it just exciting!_" He laughed, the skull in his hand chattering its teeth loudly in agreement.

_'Yes our time is coming, and it shall be glorious'_

**Chapter ****5**

It was around 4 in the morning when Naruto returned to his apartment slightly worse for wear. Though he had a grin that couldn't be wiped from his face by anyone, not even Sasuke! Flopping down on his abused sofa he propped his feet up on the small coffee table he found some long time ago. Letting out a long winded sigh he began to relax himself, and before he knew it Naruto was conked out.

_Thump Thump_

A quiet groan emitted before an arm draped itself over the head

_THUMP THUMP_

"Go away! I'm not home!" Naruto yelled pulling a pillow over his head to block out the noise,

_THUMP THU-CRASH_

Naruto shot up from his position on the couch to see his door completely off its hinges and flat on the floor with a familiar man with his foot raised in a motion to kick.

Jack grimaced as he put his foot back down but walked inside on the door anyways without a care and went to put it back on its hinges. Turning to look at the peeved boy he smiled sheepishly and rubbed the back of his neck,

"Oops."

**Chapter ****6**

Naruto grumbled as he sat behind the counter playing with the band around his wrist,

"Stupid teme, breaking down my door. He didn't even fix it! Stupid cheap duck-tape skinny ass teme." He mumbled under his breath flicking a bit of his hair from his eyes in a lazy motion.

A ding of the door alerted Naruto and perked him up, prepared, he put on a charming smile as the potential customer began to look around at the wares. Naruto walked over to the woman as from where he stood could see the shapely legs of a woman and cleared his throat,

"Can I help you find something?"

Moving his head to the left Naruto felt the air move and heard the thunk of something hitting wood, turning he paled when he saw the kunai knife 2 inches deep in the counter,

"Ryuu-chan you know better than to sneak up on- Your not Ryuu-chan." The woman said after taking a good look at who she threw her weapon at. Pulling at the collar of his new shirt Naruto hesitantly laughed a bit,

"Jack is out on an errand, I'm watching shop until he comes back."

She hmm'd and looked Naruto up and down focusing more on his chest than anything else,

"I see, the name's Anko and what's your name cutie?" Anko asked leaning closer showing the boy a good view of her ample bosom.

"Uh, you can call Naruto Anko-san." Naruto said eying the woman warily for she smelled of poison and mud, which reminded him of the few snakes he met during his trips to the forests. He tensed when Anko wrapped her arm around his shoulder, pushing her breasts into his face,

"Please, call me Anko-chan~." She purred into his ear making him gulp loudly.

Naruto sighed in relief when the woman was pulled off by a ringed hand,

"An-chan! What have I told you about molesting my employee's!" Jack said narrowing his eyes at the woman in front of him trying to look 'innocent'.

"Not to." She mumbled looking away from the man pouting childishly, Jack crossed his arms while closing his eyes and nodding,

"That's right, every time I get a new worker you scare 'em off with your perverted ways. Even the girls! Are you listening to me An- Hey! What did I just tell you!" Jack yelled spotting Anko rubbing a poor Naruto, who was waving a hand his way in a silent attempt of telling him 'help me!'.

"Grrr ANKO!"

On the outside of the building, everyone jumped and flinched at the yell and crashing sounds that followed it.

**Chapter 7**

It was about a week working at Hot Topics when Jack decided to close up shop and take Naruto somewhere, where well he was about to find out.

"Where are you taking me?" Naruto asked looking at his surroundings with a questionable look, "Your not gonna kill me are you? I did say I was sorry about almost killing your pet fish." He said pulling out his famous puppy pout, it of course didn't affect Jack who was smiling as he lead the clueless genin on.

"Oh Don't Worry Naru-chan, I'm just going to show you a place where I usually meet up with old buddies." Jack snickered at the look the semi-blond boy was giving him,

"How come don't and worry are capitalized?" As he asked this Naruto was looking above Jacks head as if his dialogue was magically writing whatever the black haired man said.

"Your just imagining things again, like the time you said you saw a Jakiko(Impchild, a mysterious spirit that is devious and enjoys causing mischief. They enjoy shiny sparkly objects and there are strange findings of jewelery and other objects in holes in the surrounding forests. Made up Japan folklore.) trying to steal one of the gauges from the display case, which was locked from the outside."

Naruto crossed his arms as he pouted at the reminder of his not so sane encounter with that mean little imp thing. The more the pair walked the more it started to look familiar to the jinchuriki and loudly stated his thoughts,

"This is sector N, what are we doing all the way down here?" Just as he said that Jack stopped in front of a building with flashing neon sign.

Staring at the blue sign distrustfully he waited for Jack to say something, and he didn't have to wait long,

"Welcome to the Blue Lobster! Where every need is met and satisfied, and with the best crab legs this side of Fire Nation." Naruto who was nodding along in mock interest sputtered at the crab tidbit but only shook his head in denial of wanting to know. Quite suddenly moving forward not of his own will Naruto found himself pushed through the door with Jack right behind him smiling wildly as the waitress showed them to a table with several men and one female already enjoying drinks and a crab platter.

"Naruto, now that your part of the illustrious business of marketing and selling, I would like to introduce you to a few friends of mine. One you already know so we're just going to ignore him-OW!" Jack was interrupted by a hit from Dylan who was busy scowling at the crazy shop owner,

"Inconsiderate bastard! Ignore that big baby Naruto, let ME introduce ya to the gang." Motioning with his hand for the boy to sit in what looked like Jack's chair,

"Now the one on your left is Kiraku(at ease, comfortable), he works down by the A district but lives here with us lowly peasants." The group chuckled as the brown haired man pouted sipping at the straw in his drink, "The next poor sap is one of the few weapon specialists in Konoha Reiken(Soulblade, roughly),' The white haired man lifted the empty glass cup at him while still looking at the female companion beside him. "Ah the fair lady beside him is our dear poison master who works in one of the local plant stores, you can call her- Nee-chan of course." The woman said interrupting Dylan looking at Naruto with starry eyes,

Naruto only smiled nervously

"Uh, sure um.. Nee-chan?" He said staring at the strange blue haired woman who was smiling sweetly at him

"Though her friends call her Karen(Sweet)." Jack said from beside the boy who almost fell off the chair from the unexpected appearance of the man,

"And last but not least Yokaku(foreboding), he owns a music business in sector I." The man was very feminine in looks with long black hair and warm brown eyes. If it weren't for the fact Dylan pointed it out Naruto would have thought he was a girl.

"Now everyone, this is Naruto Uzumaki, Naruto Uzumaki this is everyone." Jack pointed waving over one of the waitresses for a drink.

Naruto looked at the group awkwardly before raising a hand and smiling a bit, "Er, hi everyone nice to meet you." What happened next confused and scared the blond as Karen shoved Dylan, a man physically bigger than her, AND Jack from their seats. Yokaku was at the bar talking to the bartender when this happened. Next thing he knew he was being suffocated by the woman's cleavage in a surprisingly back breaking hug.

The two men that weren't bowled over by 'feminine fury' watched the poor boy get squeezed to death by their female companion.

"Do you think we should help the poor guy?" Kiraku asked looking at his white haired friend. Said friend shook his head as he took a sip of his drink,

"Nah, I don't wanna get caught in between Karen and something cute. The boys' on his own." Ignoring the blueing blonds skin in favor of his sake. Yokaku came back with a tray of dumplings and sake bottles watching the scene before him with confused eyes.

"Did I miss something?"

"Karen he's turning blue, let him breathe god dammit!"

"Nope." Grabbing for one of the sake bottles ignoring the crashing sounds in front of him.

"Karen!"

**Chapter 8**

It was morning in Konoha which meant a great time for training for many ninja, including one particular blond who was already up and sweating his butt off.

Naruto dodged a kick from one of the grunts bringing up a kunai to stop the sword from above, grunting from the effort Naruto sent some chakra into his arm to throw off the clone with the sword and stab the other one in the chest.

"AnD time! GoOd work sir, you completed the 3rd grunt level in 5 minutes." Koufu said as he watched the commander wipe head forehead with an offered rag then some water from one of the healers,

"_Yes and this time you haven't hurt yourself as severely as before." _A female clone of slight height and motherly looks said walking towards the pair,

"WeLl Chiyu doesn't that mean he's getting better at defeating larger groups of enemies than before?" The larger male clone asked gaining a side glance from the female

"_All well and good but there is always room for improvement and Commander won't be facing grunt clones in real battle, no offence Commander."_ Chiyu said bowing to the blond who was sitting by a tree taking this time to relax,

"None taken." before taking a drink from his water bottle

Naruto sighed as he stretched his sore muscles, taking the time to rub his legs and arms. He kept an ear towards the conversing clone Heads so no fight would break out between them. When nothing happened Naruto made his way to the other clones who were training, looking for their Head clone to talk. Spotting the familiar tall long haired clone, Naruto zeroed in on to his location, weaving through the clones that were training. Spotting his back turned, Naruto sneaked up as quietly as he could to scare the man-clone

"Commander, how can I help you?" The tall clone said turning around to look at his leader.

Naruto pouted as he stared at his 1st division Head clone or 'captain', sort of childishly as he crossed his arms,

"How do you always know who's behind you!" He groused narrowing blue eyes into the captains grey ones. Said captain smiled at his creator indulgently before patting the boy's blond head softly

"That... is a secret Commander, now was there something you needed?" the clones from the 1st division chuckled at their Captain for teasing the Commander and at the Commander as well for his amusing reactions. Naruto waved the hand from his hair with an irritated huff wilently wishing he wasn't so short.

"I had wanted to talk with you Kanbuki-san, but if your just gonna tease me I think I'll find better company elsewhere." Naruto said still pouting at his captain who merely smiled at him before turning on his heel.

"Come, we can talk privately over here. All of you keep training, none of you better be slacking or else." Kanbuki said smirking when he watched the group run around to restart their training exercises.

Naruto laughed at the picture the team made as he followed the tall man to the edge of the training grounds. Kanbuki sat down by one of the trees rather smoothly smirking when he watched Naruto plop down beside him sitting indian style.

"Sometimes I forget you are still a child." Kanbuki started causing Naruto to look at him in surprise before puffing his cheeks angrily,

"Hey, you guys are only a week old. That means I'm older than all of you." Naruto said loudly, this caused the man to laugh softly before patting the boy's head,

"Argh enough with the patting!"

"You are a strange individual Naruto-kun." At the sound of his name Naruto looked up at the usually stern looking man, "Since you are our creator we share the memories of your past yet remain seperate thoughts in the space of your mind. You remain a happy and gregarious individual-

"Grega-what?" Naruto said scratching the back of his head confused

"It means outgoing."

"Oh, then why didn't you say that?" Naruto asked making Kanbuki sigh

"We are getting off topic, I was trying to say was that you remain this outgoing person depsite the harsh life you lived in your younger years, the scorn and out right ignoring of your exsistance. I want to know why you don't hate the people of this village Naruto-kun." He said looking into Naruto's deep blue eyes.

Naruto didn't know how long he stared into the man's eye's before looking towards the ground to hide the emotions he was feeling, he knew that his childhood wasn't the greatest even if old man Sarutobi tried to give him a normal one. The hate that the adults looked down at him made him feel insignificant and small. He remembered trying to play with the kids of his age group before they were scolded by parents and ignored the next day or sometimes even picked on. It was when the people of Konoha started ignoring him did Naruto begin pranking. He was starved for the attention he saw other children get, and he didn't care if it was negative attention he was gaining from the populace; he was being noticed. Looking at his hands, specifically the calluses from training too hard, brought the memories of the Academy to the front of his mind. When he listened to the stories of the Hokages, of the respect and adoration the civilians showed them brought about his wish to become the next Hokage and he stated it loudly, everyday to his peers. No matter their disbelief in him Naruto was determind to become the greatest Hokage even if it took him years to accomplish it. Looking back up at the waiting face of Kanbuki, Naruto smiled a great big smile and said the only thing he could think of,

"They're just angry and afraid."

Kanbuki merely stared at the blond with sad grey eyes.

**Chapter 9**

Naruto looked around him taking in the dense foilage and tree's, _Where am I_ he thought turning his head a bit. There was a snap of a twig off in the bushes and Naruto shot off opposite of the noise running as fast as he could. He didn't know how long he ran but finally broke through the brush into a strikingly barren field, Naruto felt his head turn to look behind him and saw a group of men behind men; all cloaked to hide their features. There was movement next to him causing Naruto to look to his right seeing a woman of average height, flowing red hair and expressive green eyes,

"Come on we'll lead 'em to the cliff!" She yelled running further ahead of him

"Right behind you!" He yelled after her, Naruto felt himself push chakra to his legs and increased in speed shortly after. Looking back the group of men were still following them, he eyed the slashed kumo headbands before quickly back towards the front. Catching up to his partner Naruto spotted the menacing point of a cliff with no doubt a very very long drop. Sensing something Naruto dodged to the left just as a barrage of kunai shot past where he previously was.

"Pick up the pace you idiot, I don't wanna carry your heavy ass back to the village!" The woman yelled flinging several shuriken at the men behind them. Naruto felt himself pout,

"So mean Uzu-chan, and after all the things we've been through together."

He couldn't see her face but he was sure the red head was ticked off and held an evil look about it.

"Come on we're almost to the point, I hope you know what to do idiot." 

Saluting behind her back Naruto grinned, "Aye aye Capt'n, you can count on me." He laughed soon after when he heard the woman mutter 'idiot' under her breath.

Naruto shot up from where he layed clutching the knife until his knuckles turned white. After a minute of nothing Naruto relaxed his grip, switching hands to get blood back in the other hand. _What was that about?_ Scratching his head before finally realizing he wasn't in his bed let alone his apartment. Jumping to his feet, knife in hand he recognized the place from before.

"So it wasn't a dream." He said to himself tensing when he heard maniac laughter and the scene beffore him melted away like an illusion revealing a gray-scale Konoha. He didn't take the time to look around him as he spotted the morbid throne of bones before him, the Kyuubi not far off. Suddenly a pair of arms wrapped around his neck as cold breath washed over his ear causing Naruto to shudder,

"_Welcome my king, it has been so long since we last saw each other. I missed you so much._" Kurai grinned at his king's shiver, releasing him just as the boy brought his knife up to stab him. Shaking his head Kurai appeared on the throne of bones checking his nails for non existent dirt, "_Tut tut my king has you new powers taught you nothing? One would think you weren't thinking before acting."_ The white figure smirked looking up from his fingers at the blond.

"What do you want." Naruto frowned staring at the figure who pointed to himself with fake innocence.

"_Me? I want nothing, what you should be asking is what do YOU want."_ Finishing with a point at Naruto who scrunched his nose in confusion.

"What I want? What's that supposed to mean?" Scowling when Kurei laughed,

_"Isn't there anything? Maybe a question or two? Something your dying to know about?"_ The 'hollow' smile on the boys face made Naruto falter and step back slightly; though it brought to the forfront the dream he had.

Looking at the figure before him Naruto spoke"Were you the cause of that dream that I had?"

Kurei blinked then blinked agin before grinning,

"My my my, you really are using that thing you call brain aren't you?" Standing up from his seat ignoring Naruto's cry of 'Hey!' walking 'till he was standing beside the blond who was eying him warily, "There is more than just 'ol foxy sealed up inside of ya king." Before continueing his trek down the main road of the grey Konoha.

Naruto swiftly turned his head to yell at the ghost to see him gone, blended into the shadow; just like his name sake.

**Chaper 10**

**Thunk**

Naruto sat on his lumpy couch, throwing a kunai into his floor out of boredom. It was his day off today and he was taking a break from training with his clone divisions.

**Thunk**

Nothing to do, a completely nothing to do day.

**Thunk**

Ab-so-lutely no- **Crash! **Shooting to his feet, Naruto slipped the knife into his long sleeved jacket before turning to see the potential excitement slash threat. Only to sink back into his seat when he saw who it was,

"Hey Naru-chan!"

"Hi, Jack-san." Sparring the black haired man a glance before going back to what he was doing.

Fixing the door, again, Jack turned to see Naruto throwing a kunai at the ground, "Geesh, what a warm welcome that was, and here I am taking time out of my busy schedule to hang out with my favorite ninja!" Naruto looked at the man again before snorting,

"You got stood up again didn't you." Naruto said throwing the knife down

**Thunk**

Jack merely sat down dejected on an old recliner, "Yeah."

**Thunk**

"My heart cries for you buddy it really does. Is that why you dyed the tips of your hair blue?" Looking at the usually blond spikes. Jack looked up then at the hair that was in reach,

"What this? No, I decided to spice up my look a bit. Whatd'ya think?" Jack asked smiling at his younger blond black haired friend,

"I would have gone with white."

**Thunk**

Jack eyed the hole littered floor warily, "Isn't that gonna go through if ou keep doin that?" Making Naruto pause before looking down at the ground before shaking his head,

"Nah, I did this once before and put in a metal plate in this spot so I would know when to replace the wood." He said before resuming his boredom game,

**Thunk**

Jack merely rolled his eyes in exasperation before moving to get up, only to trip and fall to the floor. Naruto only laughed as the man regained his barings and pouted at him,

"Stop laughing it wasn't that funny."

"You tripped over nothing! Kami how can that not be funny?" Naruto laughed some more wiping his eyes for any tears,

Crossing his arms Jack sulked, "Well I was gonna offer to hang out with the gang but since you seem so keen to make fun of me I think I won't."

Naruto eager to do something for that day quickly tried to stop his laughing and apologised to the man who smiled smugly before accepting it.

"We're meeting up at the Blue Lobster again so I suggest putting on some real clothes." Pointing at the outfit Naruto was wearing making him look down. He was wearing orange boxer shorts with red swirls over it and a equally orange hoodie also with a red swirl over the breast of the jacket. Flushing red, Naruto ran towards his room to change ignoring Jack who was laughing his butt off, until a scroll was thrown at his head,

"Shut up Bastard!"

* * *

**These last few chapters were a pain to write as I had no idea what to put in them. Stupid writer's block.**

**The bold writing throughout the chapters are Kurai's thoughts that he randomly throws in there **

**I guess your wondering why I have these chapters of Naruto before the wave arc, to answer to who cares, is that I'm trying my hand at character building. I like the idea of Jack but I myself have no talent or the practice to sufficiently create a characters profile from scratch. I would like to try though so hang in there , I only have a few chapters left of the Wave Arc and then you can enjoy what you came to read.**

**Lady of the East signing off**

I'm not particulary good at fight scenes, if you are could you maybe give me some advice or something, I would greatly appreciate it thanks.


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